Modern masters

A critical biography of the great Irish poet traces his intellectual growth and relates his mystical concerns and involvement in public affairs to his poetry.

Theodor Adorno was one of the giants of twentieth-century thought. This volume collects his key articles on the irrational in mass culture. Although he wrote them half a century ago Adorno's ideas are relevant to the understanding of phenomena as apparently diverse as: astrology and "New Age" cults the power of neo-fascist propaganda and the re-emergence of anti-Semitism* the psychological basis of popular culture.His superb essay, The Stars Down To Earth is an innovative and startling analysis of the astrology column in a Los Angeles newspaper. Adorno argues that the column promotes fascist dependency and social conformism in much the same way as fascist propaganda. He maintains that the same principles operate in the mainstream products of the `culture industry'. The three shorter papers illuminate different aspects of Adorno's argument: the relation of occultism to orthodox modern thought, the pervasiveness of anti-Semitism, and the 'psycho-technic' rhetoric of fascist propaganda. The collection shows Adorno at his brilliant and maddening best. Stephen Crook's introduction critically reviews Adorno's argument and offers an assessment of its contemporary relevance.

In this lucid, revealing book, award-winning pianist and scholar Charles Rosen sheds light on the elusive music of Arnold Schoenberg and his challenge to conventional musical forms. Rosen argues that Schoenberg's music, with its atonality and dissonance, possesses a rare balance of form and emotion, making it the most expressive music ever written. Concise and accessible, this book looks at Schoenberg's ambiguous relation both to the central tradition of Western music and to the complex developments of modernism. Rosen analyzes Schoenberg's expressionist beginnings and how they relate in theory, performance, and musical experience to the system of atonality set forth in the music of Berg, Webern, and Schoenberg himself.

Georges Braque is one of the best-known and least-understood artists of our century. Though he has long been acknowledged as an essential figure in the evolution of contemporary art, it has been less clear whether he should be defined as a radical innovator or elegant stylist, as a serene classicist or temperamental individualist, as Picasso's sidekick or the grand old man of French painting. From his friends' affectionate recollections, Braque emerges as a cheerful. Dandy, renowned for his good looks, his skills as an amateur boxer, and his ability to play Beethoven symphonies on the accordion. His art suggests a far different persona, however, for Braque was intensely serious, technically meticulous, and devoted to making thoughtful, deeply felt images--whether as a Fauve, a Cubist, or a mature painter working in his own distinctive style. The greatest adventure of Braque's life was his six-year collaboration with Picasso, and. Those years yielded inventive works that changed the course of art history. But as this new volume makes clear, to think of Braque primarily in relation to Picasso is to underestimate him and to miss much of what makes Braque unmistakably "Braque." By helping us to see and understand how and what Braque painted, the ever-astute critic Karen Wilkin reveals the full magnitude of his achievement. Her perceptive text and discriminating choice of illustrations--including some. Works never before reproduced--bring a welcome new clarity to Braque's art and art making.

Describes Winnicott's theories of child development, the mother-child relationship, and human sexuality.